The co-chairs of the Legislative Committee wanted to provide a legislative update on NYSCA’s legislative activities in Albany.  During the 2022 legislative session, our Legislative Committee worked actively with our government affairs attorney on several legislative priorities for the Association. 

Scope modernization remains our main legislative priority.  The scope bill numbers are A4358 and S1319.  The Assembly bill is sponsored by Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell and the Senate bill is sponsored by Senator James Gaughran.  Both our sponsors understand the need for scope modernization and for doctors of chiropractic to practice to the full extent of our education and training. While the scope bill did not see movement during this session, we had many conversations about the need for this legislation and have developed next steps to get this legislation advanced. We also wanted to note that for the next legislative session, we will have a new Senate sponsor as our current sponsor, Senator Gaughran, did not seek reelection to the Senate. We want to thank you him for his support of the profession over his tenure as a Senator, and we wish him the best in his next endeavor.

We are pleased to announce that our coalition conservative care bill (opioid bill), A273 sponsored by Assemblymember Gottfried and S4640 sponsored by Senator Rivera, has passed both the Assembly and the Senate! The bill now heads to the governor’s office for review. We will be heavily advocating for her to sign the bill into law.

The Chiropractic Medicare Coverage Modernization Act

The U.S. Senate has introduced a bill, S. 4042, to modernize Medicare coverage and better meet the needs of today’s seniors by increasing access to services provided by doctors of chiropractic. An identical bipartisan-supported bill in the House currently has 130 cosponsors.

Earlier this week, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law three bills intended to address and expand sexual harassment protections in New York State. While these laws will have relatively minor implications for private employers, employers should be aware of a few important points.

 Read more at HSElaw.com

Over the weekend, the Assembly and Senate released their one-house budget proposals. Today, each house will vote today on resolutions, which memorialize their one-house budget proposals.

The co-chairs of the Legislative Committee wanted to provide a legislative update on NYSCA’s legislative activities in Albany. Our Legislative Committee has been actively working with our government affairs attorney on several legislative priorities for the Association.

This just in! The Telehealth bill A7369 (Gottfried) / S7130 (Rivera) that would add chiropractors and several other provider groups to the list of those authorized to provide telehealth services in New York has passed the Assembly!

As you may be aware, the No Surprises Act was passed at the end of 2020 as a part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. Initially most experts believed this act applied only to facility-based providers. However, the recent finalization of Part II of the rules has a specific portion that applies to all health care providers.

Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her inaugural State Budget address this morning. Coming in at a brisk 16 minutes, the $216 billion State Budget is starkly different from the 2021- 2022 budget.

At 12:01 a.m., Kathy Hochul was officially sworn in as the 57th Governor of New York State. She is the first woman to ever hold this position. At 10:00 a.m., there was a ceremonial swearing in ceremony for Governor Hochul that was open to press with the oath of office administered by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore. She gave brief remarks at her swearing in and indicated that brevity was going to be a hallmark of her administration.

Just a quick legislative update as the 2021 legislative session is scheduled to conclude next Thursday, June 10. We have been proactively pushing two bills of interest to the profession:

The American Chiropractic Association held a virtual lobby day on May 6, 2021 with about 350 doctors of chiropractic and students participating, to advocate for HR 2654 the Chiropractic Modernization Act.

Arlington, VA – The American Chiropractic Association (ACA) is pleased to announce that bipartisan legislation to modernize Medicare coverage of chiropractic services was reintroduced April 19 in the U.S. House of Representatives.

As you may be aware, in New York there a two-year legislative cycle. As this year is the start of a new legislative cycle, we have new bill numbers for our scope modernization bill. In addition, due to changes in the Assembly, we have a new Assembly sponsor.

ACA has been part of two coalitions fighting these cuts and is supporting legislation designed to place a one-year moratorium on the planned cuts, to allow congress to develop a long-term solution. Contact your federal representative here and urge them to cosponsor this legislation, H.R. 8505.